


San Francisco Is Beautiful This Time Of Year

by Rosencrantz



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Academy, Chance Meetings, Gen, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-03
Packaged: 2018-01-14 10:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1262704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosencrantz/pseuds/Rosencrantz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirk knew his parents would eventually notice he'd run away to join Starfleet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	San Francisco Is Beautiful This Time Of Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [nickelmountain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickelmountain/gifts).



"Mom, mom, no, MOM, NO!" yelled James T. Kirk as quietly as he could as Winona Kirk licked her thumb and rubbed his cheek.

"First impressions are everything, James," said Winona. "And that means that the first thing the other cadets are going to see is not you with your lunch on your face."

James stared at her. Winona beamed back, full of pride that James was following in hers and his father's footsteps. Somewhere behind them, James' stepfather Frank was calling out that if they left now, they could get home before it was dark.

Then Winona stopped beaming, took another hard look at James, and lifted her thumb to lick again. James dodged back.

"They've already seen me, mom!"

"That was when you ran away here without **telling your own mother**. But now they'll be seeing you as my son, future admiral," said Winona firmly. "Have you made any friends?"

"Yeeeah. Maybe I'll introduce you, if you promise not to lick them," said James. Then pictured his mother trying to groom Bones. Then he pictured her trying to groom Gaila, and it got weird.

"Show us your room," said Winona. "I want to see how you're living."

"Winnie!" snapped Frank.

"We can just get a hotel," said Winona. "This is important."

"It's just going to be a bunch of garbage with women on the wall," said her husband.

"It is NOT," said James. Regulations did not, in fact, allow that.

Winona hugged James' arm. "I remember when I was in the Academy. Everything was... well, the world had a lot of potential. I loved the stars, James. Of course, I left Starfleet to raise you, but--"

"Sorry, mom," said James.

"I'm not saying I regret it! I'm just saying that sometimes I look out there and think... I could be discovering a whole new world right this minute."

"And then one of your sons breaks something and you get a call," said Frank. He was grinning.

"Ha. Ha," said James. "Fine, come on, I'll show you around. But wait here while I get you two clearance." He waved his hand at the Academy courtyard, which was infinitely nicer to look at than the Academy admission desk. 

"You can make Frank sit in the car and wait, just say the word, and I'll just get you a pass, mom," James added.

"I'm going to go call someone to go water our plants since apparently we're staying here for the rest of the month," muttered Frank, heading back to their car.

Winona waved to him and sat down on a bench, closing her eyes and remembering what it was like to be a cadet again. The air even smelled like it had, back during her first day at the Academy.

The year was already well in session, so the chaotic energy of thousands of confused cadets lost on their first day wasn't there, but she could almost picture it. The scene was right there on the edge of her mind's eye when someone sat down beside her.

Winona jumped. "Frank, you startled me," she said turning to look at a lovely dark haired woman.

"I'm sorry," said the woman. "And I thank you for the new name." She smiled softly. 

Winona smiled back. "What was the old one?"

The woman held out her hand. "Amanda." She was human, much older than the average cadet, and while that meant nothing, she also wasn't in uniform. In fact, it looked more like something definitely not of Earth. Not Andorian, they were more into leather straps. 

Winona took a guess as she shook Amanda's hand..

"Teacher?"

"Close. No, just visiting one. My son."

"Ah! Mine just enrolled. Without telling us. We only managed to get here today."

"They do that," said Amanda.

"Yours too?"

"Sort of," said Amanda. "It's a long story."

"Ah, do I know long stories," said Winona, leaning back to catch a sunbeam. "I love San Francisco. I think I'm going to find a lot of excuses to come by now."

A bird helpfully twittered, to underscore the moment.

"I miss greenery like this," said Amanda. "I live on Vulcan. If you like red rocks..."

"Those are nice. Very scenic."

"True. You can't fault the aesthetic of the planet," said Amanda. "Vulcan interior design is stunning."

"When you said I was close, did you mean...?" asked Winona.

Amanda nodded. "I was a teacher once. I don't really teach Vulcans, they don't think they have much to learn from a human. Right now, anyway."

"Ah, but can we teach them to love," said Winona, repeating an old human joke.

A soft smile crossed Amanda's face. "They already know that one."

"Really?" Winona said. "I thought they didn't feel _anything_."

"Oh, so you've met one!" said Amanda. "That usually re-enforces that idea pretty fast."

"On my first ship, an older one named T'Pol," said Winona. "I liked her, but I can't say she had what you'd call emotions."

"They're like that. But only a machine can be totally without. Trust me, Vulcans have a soft side. Buried very, very," she paused for breath, "very deeply inside. But with them, it's more don't show than don't have."

"I'll be damned," said Winona. "This just makes me miss seeing the world more. I used to be one of them, you know." She waved her hand out at the cadets.

Amanda looked curious. "Not to pry..."

"Widowed. I wanted to be able to watch my kids. I'd already left the first one with my brother while I was off on duty, when there were two I decided to try life on Earth."

Amanda nodded. "Not easy."

"Not easy at all," said Winona, looking at the sky. "I wonder sometimes, now that they're too old for me to be called in when they mess up, that I could go back out there."

"Speaking as a teacher and a mother," said Amanda, "I believe it could be most enriching."

"Mom!" called James, as he came out from the main building, waving two passes over his head. "I couldn't get Security to arrest Frank, but I got you passes to tour!"

"Ah, well, good to have met you," said Amanda, patting Winona's hand and getting up with her. "I believe Spock's lecture should be ending soon. Believe what I said about Vulcans. I should know, I married one."

"Good to meet you!" said Winona, waving as Amanda left and turning to catch James. "You took a while. Were you secretly cleaning up?"

"No, of course not," said James, flashing her a wide smile. "Made a friend, mom?"

"Maybe. Maybe she talked me into enlisting on whatever ship you end up on."

"Please no."

"Fine," said Winona. "Let's go fetch Frank. He's proud that you're doing this, you know."

"Sure. He sent me a message asking if I'd somehow wiped my record when I said I was admitted."

"That's how you know he's proud," Winona replied. She squeezed James' hand. "I am, too."

"Thanks, mom."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Penguinonrocks for the beta, and [Phosfate](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Phosfate/pseuds/Phosfate) and [Missy_Pixels](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Missy_Pixels/) for various and sundry aid.


End file.
